One of the younger generation of Native Hawaiian quilters
in the Ka Hui Kapa Apana O Waimea Club, Sharon Balai of Waimea,
Hawaii, is known for her ability to create innovative and complex
patterns. She is also a strong advocate for protecting the cultural
rights of ownership of traditional Hwaiian quilt patterns. She explains
how this quilt, "Kaumoha Koli'i", represents and speaks
of marriage and was designed specifically to symbolize the union
of Hawaii's cultural past with the introduced materials, ideas,
and influence from other cultures. Nothing on or of this quilt is
native to Hawaii but for the Hawaiian cultural system that brought
in the tradtions and the unique expansive concept of the eightfold
process. The pattern of open hearts has a message to all who see
it, saying "Na pua o Hawaii aloha" (from the
flowers [children] of Hawaii, greetings of love). As is customary
in Hawaii, the name also has a second meaning: Kaumoha is a heaviness
or burden due to a troubling situation, such as sadness or grief:
Koli'i is a disappearing or diminishing, such as water evaporating
or a ship sailing off into the horizon. This quilt's other name,
"diminishing burden," refers to the quilter's sustained
thoughts and feelings while this quilt was in progress.